Stranger Of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins

Sowing the seeds of Chaos

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 18 MAR / PUB SQUARE ENIX DEV TEAM NINJA / PLAYERS 1-3

Jack has one thing on his mind: killing Chaos. You’ve probably seen the jokes about his singlemindedness online. But in a sense it’s testament to Team Ninja’s action design. Just like Jack, when we’re in the flow of combat throughout our lengthy hands-on, all we can think about is killing our foes too.

Which doesn’t mean there’s no story. Billed as a precursor of sorts to the very first Final Fantasy, it plays with the four Warriors Of Light’s destiny, and the connection between Chaos, a manifestation of the world’s evil, and the heroic knight Garland. The twist? We know going in that Garland is Jack’s last name.

Why he’s obsessed with killing the entity, and why he and fellow crystal carriers Jed, Ash, and Neon are on their quest remains a mystery. Their starting duds look painfully ordinary and modern-day. Jack even angstily blares nu-metal from his phone’s speakers as he storms out of the Chaos Shrine post-boss. There’s a chance our heroes might hail from our world, making the mystery of Chaos all the more tantalising. That said, it’s hard to worry about it when you’re blades-deep in dark renditions of classic Final Fantasy enemies from goblins to bombs and even coeurl.

LIMIT BREAK

Our most recent session with the game has us playing a tweaked version of the Chaos Shrine that we visited in our first demo, plus a new forested area, the Refrin Wetlands.